Eureka Daily Sentinel

Baker vs. Eureka county,
Judge Cole's Decision in the Court:
This case,
As noted elsewhere in this issue of the Sentinel, Judge Cole yesterday rendered a decision bearing very strongly on the Court-house question. He says in so many words that there is no money available to pay for either plans and specifications, or the building of a Court-house. We would not be surprised if Judge Cole's attitude resulted in putting a stop to all further proceedings in the premises. Following is the statement of the case, and substantially Judge Cole's reasons for deciding the case as he did:
George W. Baker, as assignee of Thomas J. Read and James Montgomery, sued Eureka county to recover the value of services rendered by Read and Montgomery, in giving their opinion upon certain plans for building a Court-house, which the County Commissioners authorized, or attempted to authorize Commissioner Page to procure without compensation. The Court held plaintiff could not recover for a number of reasons, among others,
First—That the order made by the County Commissioners was so indefinite and uncertain as to form the basis of no contract.
Second—That the Board had no authority under the law to pay for any so-called plans without first advertising for them, according to the statutes.
Third—That there is no fund at present created by law in Eureka county, out of which any money can be paid either for plans or for building a Court-house, consequently the County Auditor could draw no warrant for Read and Montgomery.
Lastly—That it was a matter of doubt as to whether a county could be sued in a Justice's Court (as was originally done in this case) and of much more serious doubt as to whether an assignee of a claim against a county could sue at all.